Method for manufacturing toy figures

ABSTRACT

An improved method of swivel attaching appendages to the body of toy figures by inserting a connector assembly into the appendage, extending an elongated member of the assembly into the body and positioning a deformable member on the body side of the elongated member. The elongated member is then pulled in a direction into the body and a pressure is simultaneously applied on the deformable member in the direction opposite to the direction of pull to deform the member and thereby provide a connector assembly which attaches the appendage in swivel relationship with the body. The improved swivel connector assembly for toys is also claimed.

United States Patent Georgen et al.

METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING TOY FIGURES Inventors: Robert T. Georgen, Fairfield; Igor E. Dolgen, Monroe, both of Conn.

Assignee: Character Novelty Company, lnc., South Norwalk, Conn.

Filed: June 15, 1973 Appl. N0.: 370,324

Related US. Application Data Continuation of Ser. No. 54,089, June 5, 1970, abandoned, which is a division of Ser. No. 711,637, March 8, 1968, abandoned.

US. Cl 29/434, 29/446, 29/526, 46/173, 85/36 Int. Cl 823p 19/00 Field of Search 29/434, 446, 526; 46/161, 46/173; 85/36 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10/1939 Tinnerman 29/526 UX 2/1943 Tinnerman 85/36 2,316,732 4/1943 Weinstein 46/173 2,535,116 12/1950 Beebe r.

3,203,300 8/1965 Marschnerm 3,425,259 2/1969 Baugh .1 29/446 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,417,044 9/1965 France 46/173 Primary Examiner-Charlie T. Moon Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Pennie & Edmonds 5 7 ABSTRACT An improved method of swivel attaching appendages to the body of toy figures by inserting a connector as sembly into the appendage, extending an elongated member of the assembly into the body and positioning a deformable member on the body side of the elongated member. The elongated member is then pulled in a direction into the body and a pressure issimultaneously applied on the deformable member in the direction opposite to the direction of pull to deform the member and thereby provide a connector assembly which attaches the appendage in swivel relationship with the body. The improved swivel connector assembly for toys is also claimed.

1 Claim, 9 Drawing Figures ZPMMEB 1 W74 3. 840.974

hum-alum IIIIIIIIII INVENTORS ROBERT T. GEORGEN IGOR E. DOLGEN ATTORN Y8 PAIENIEBMT 1519M FIG. 8

INVENT'ORS ROBERT T. GEORGEN IGOR E. DOLGEN METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING TOY FIGURES This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 54,089, filed June 5, 1970, now abandoned, which is a divisional of Ser. No. 711,637, Filed Mar. 8, 1968 (now abandoned).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an improvement in the method of swivel attachment of appendages to the body of toy figures and to the swivel connector assembly per se.

In the past, toy figures, particularly jointed stuffed toys, have been assembled by using a flat headed forged nail in combination with metal and fiber washers. Specifically the joint was formed by first inserting a metal and then a fiber washer over a nail shank and then securing, as by hand sewing, this assembly with an appendage of a toy. A substantial length of the nail shank protruded from the appendage and was inserted into an unstuffed torso shell at predetermined positions. A fiber and metal washer were then consecutively placed on the shank portion of the nail. The final operation was to pigtail the nail shank. An operator, using needle nose pliers bent the remaining portion of the nail into several close loops, or pigtails" in order to completely secure the appendage to the body shell. The physical force required to bend this nail and achieve a satisfactorily tight joint is a major obstacle in the production of jointed toys.

This invention provides a new method of attaching the appendage to the body of toy figures which makes the assembly of stuffed toy figures a simple and foolproof operation, does not require great skill or strength on the part of the assembly worker, and provides a swivel joint which is as good in all respects as that heretofore produced. Until the advent of this invention the cost of assembling toy figures of this type was becoming so prohibitive that their economically competitive position was nearly ruined.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Broadly stated the invention is in an improvement in the manufacture of toy figures, particularly in the method of swivel attachment of appendages to a body. The improvement involves inserting a connector assembly into one end of an appendage; the inserted assembly includes an elongated member with an enlarged head at one end thereof. The enlarged head is confined in the appendage and the elongated member protrudes from one end thereof. The protruding portion of the elongated member is extended into the body and a deformable member is positioned about a portion of the elongated member which is positioned within the body. By simultaneously exerting a pulling force on the elongated member in a direction into the body and applying pressure on the deformable member in a direction opposite to the direction of pull, the deformable member is deformed to provide a collar fixed to the elongated member and thereby interlock the appendage to the body in swivel relationship thereto; thereafter a length of the elongated member which extends into the body beyond the deformed member is removed. In toy figures of this type the improvement of the invention is in a swivel connector assembly having a connector member extending from the appendage to the body, with this member having an enlarged head positioned in the appendage and an at least partially deformed collar fixed to a portion of the member in the body. The head and deformed collar are sized to prevent withdrawal out of the appendage and body respectively and a washer is associated with either the head or deformabile collar, or both to permit swiveling of the appendage on the body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be fully understood by referring to the accompanying drawings wherein FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stuffed toy bear having arms, legs and head which can be swiveled;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on a larger scale of a typical joint and taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a typical joint prior to final assembly;

FIG. 4 illustrates the joint of FIG. 3 after assembly;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a modified form of a typical joint prior to assembly;

FIG. 7 illustrates the joint of FIG. 6 after assembly;

FIG. 8 is another modified form of a typical joint prior to assembly, and

FIG. 9 illustrates the joint of FIG. 8 after assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A stuffed toy 10, such as is shown in FIG. 1, has its four legs and head attached in the manner of the invention. A section taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the assembled joint and in describing the method of joining the appendage to the body it shouldbe noted that the joint can be used for any appendage where a swivel relationship is desired.

As shown in FIG. 2, the appendage 11 is filled with stuffing 12 and has an outer skin layer 13. The body 14 also has stuffing 15 and an outer skin layer 16. The outer appendage skin layer 13 and body skin layer 16 are joined in face-to-face relationship by means of the connector assembly 17.

This connector assembly 17 is comprised of two enlarged fiber washers I8 and 19 which are positioned inside the appendage and the body respectively. A metal washer 20 is positioned on the outer surface of the fiber washer 18 and an elongated pin 21 extends axially through the holes of the washers and has an enlarged diameter head 22 which abuts against metal washer 20 in the appendage. The pin 21 extends well into the body 14 and has a lock washer 23 in tight forcefit fixed engagement about the end portion of the pin 21 on the body side. The appendage is permitted to swivel relative to the body by this assembly.

The method of assembling the assembly of FIG. 2 is best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The fiber washer 18, metal washer 20 and pin 21 are positioned in the appendage l2 and the end of the elongated pin extends out of the appendage but is confined within the appendage by sewing so that it cannot be withdrawn from this end. In this embodiment the pin member has a reduced cross-sectional area 25 along a middle portion thereof and a smaller diameter elongated portion 26 extending axially beyond the reduced cross-sectional portion 25. The lock washer 23, as best shown in FIG. 5, is sized to slide easily onto the reduced diameter end portion 26 of the pin 21 but its central opening is sized and configured to prevent its easily being forced onto the larger diameter portion of the pin 21. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the smaller diameter pin portion 26 is pulled into the body and the lock washer 23 is simultaneously pressed in a direction toward the appendage until the appendage and the body skins are brought into face'to-face contact and the lock washer 23 is axially pressed in force-fit about the enlarged pin portion 21. The reduced section 25 is strong enough to withstand severe tensile forces to force the lock washer about the pin 21 but is then broken by continued application of the tensile force and the reduced diameter end portion 26 is severed from the remainder of the pin. The lock washer 23 is thereby placed in fixed axial relationship with the head 22 to interlock the appendage to the body in swivel relationship.

In FIGS. 67 a second embodiment of the invention is shown. Here an elongated pin 30 has an enlarged head 31, an intermediate stepped diameter portion 32 and a smaller diameter end portion 33. Positioned cir cumferentially about the intermediate portion 32 and extending axially to surround a portion of the smaller diameter end portion 33 is a cylindrical member 35. The cylindrical member has an outwardly flared and curled end portion 36 in abutment with washer 20 and a second metal washer 37 is provided on the fiber washer 19' on the body side of the assembly. As shown in FIG. 7 the smaller diameter end portion 33 of the pin is grasped and pulled in a direction into the body and a force is simultaneously asserted in the opposite direction against the end of the cylindrical member on the body side of the assembly. The continued application of the force flattens the curled end portion 36 of the cylindrical member and deforms the end portion 39 of the cylindrical member on the body side to flare outwardly and interlock with the washer 37. Further application of these forces causes the cylindrical member 35 to be compressed about the stepped diameter intermediate portion and locked thereon. Thereafter a major length of end portion 33 is severed at portion 38 by a cutting tool to reduce the length of the elongated member which protrudes into the body. Thus, the defined end portion 39 of the cylindrical member 35 is placed into fixed axial relationship with the head 31 and curled end portion 36 to interlock the appendage to the body in swivel relationship.

A third embodiment is shown in FIGS. 8-9. Here the elongated pin member 40 has an enlarged head 41 and a reduced diameter section 42 adjacent the enlarged head. The cylindrical member 43 is slide-fitted on the elongated pin 40 and has an outwardly flared end portion 44 which abuts the metal washer 20".

The pin member is grasped and pulled in a direction into the body and force is applied in the opposite direction against the endmost portion of the cylindrical member 43 to curl and flare it radially outward. The force on the pin causes the head 41 to further flatten the curled end portion 44 of the cylindrical member and the cylindrical member being curled on both ends places the curled end in fixed axial relationship and interlocks the appendage to the body and provides a swivel attachment. Continued application of a tensile force severs the head from the remainder of the pin.

As is readily observable from the foregoing, enlarged head means as used in the claims includes an integral enlargement in one end of the pin such as 22 in the first embodiment, or the combination of an enlarged head 31 and the curled end portion 36 of a cylindrical member, an enlarged collar or other member originally positioned in combination with the pin (such as the outwardly flared end portion 44 of the third embodiment).

Furthermore the use of the term connector member as used in the claims includes either the elongated member (such as in the first embodiment) or both the elongated member and cylindrical member in combination (such as in the second embodiment) or the cylindrical member alone (such as in the third embodiment).

We claim:

1. In the manufacture of stuffed toy figures, the improvement in a method of swivelly attaching appendages to a body comprising:

a. inserting a connector assembly into one end of an appendage, said connector assembly including an elongated member having a first section having an enlarged head means attached to one end portion and a second free end section of lesser crosssectional area than the first section connected to the first section by a frangible portion having a cross-sectional area lesser than the first and second sections and a predetermined tensile strength;

b. confining the enlarged head means within the appendage with the. elongated member protruding from one end portion thereof;

c. inserting the protruding portion of the elongated member into a portion of the body;

d. positioning a deformable lock washer about a portion of the elongated member which is positioned within the body, said lock washer having an opening which is dimensioned such that it slides freely over the second section of the elongated member but is dimensioned and configured to engage the surface of the first section of the elongated member in a manner which permits slidable uni-directional force fitting of said washer over said first section; and

e. simultaneously pulling the elongated member in a direction into the body and applying a force to said lock washer in a direction opposite to the direction of pull to cause said lock washer to forcefully seek a locked position while compressing the portions of the appendage and the body in stacked relation between the head means and the lock washer such that when the tensile stress due to the pulling force on said elongated member approaches the predetermined tensile strength of said frangible portion, said frangible portion is severed thereby resulting in swivel attachments having substantially uniform predetermined locking attachments for several sizes of toy figures. 

1. In the manufacture of stuffed toy figures, the improvement iN a method of swivelly attaching appendages to a body comprising: a. inserting a connector assembly into one end of an appendage, said connector assembly including an elongated member having a first section having an enlarged head means attached to one end portion and a second free end section of lesser cross-sectional area than the first section connected to the first section by a frangible portion having a cross-sectional area lesser than the first and second sections and a predetermined tensile strength; b. confining the enlarged head means within the appendage with the elongated member protruding from one end portion thereof; c. inserting the protruding portion of the elongated member into a portion of the body; d. positioning a deformable lock washer about a portion of the elongated member which is positioned within the body, said lock washer having an opening which is dimensioned such that it slides freely over the second section of the elongated member but is dimensioned and configured to engage the surface of the first section of the elongated member in a manner which permits slidable uni-directional force fitting of said washer over said first section; and e. simultaneously pulling the elongated member in a direction into the body and applying a force to said lock washer in a direction opposite to the direction of pull to cause said lock washer to forcefully seek a locked position while compressing the portions of the appendage and the body in stacked relation between the head means and the lock washer such that when the tensile stress due to the pulling force on said elongated member approaches the predetermined tensile strength of said frangible portion, said frangible portion is severed thereby resulting in swivel attachments having substantially uniform predetermined locking attachments for several sizes of toy figures. 